On Saturday July 26, 2025, my dear friend and the lives of his wife and daughter were changed
forever……
Nathaniel and Ernestine Nozie awoke on this day with many things to be thankful for and to
celebrate. Ernestine was celebrating a birthday, and the Nozie’s were also celebrating the 28th
anniversary of their wedding vows. The family had just returned from California just a month
prior from helping their daughter Autumn move back home. Nate would only have an
abbreviated morning with the girls, as he would be joining me later that day to in-brief with our
incident management team, and provide for safety oversight on the now historic Dragon Bravo
Fire. No sooner than the information details began to be shared, Nate notified us that his wife
and daughter had been involved in a serious vehicle accident, and he would be leaving
immediately….
As Nate made his emergency travel back home to Window Rock, AZ, the details of the accident
were finally revealed. Ernestine and Autumn had made a trip to the local grocery store down
the road to pick up a cake and decorations for the birthday. On their return home, a drunk
driver had crossed the double line, and struck the ladies head on. Ernestine and Autumn were
both air lifted to UNM Hospital in Albuquerque, NM. Hospital admittance and evaluations
showed Autumn with a broken leg, shattered knee cap, and lower back injuries. Ernestine
suffered multiple fractures in both legs, lower abdominal deep bruising, and lower back
injuries. Autumn has completed surgeries required for her leg, but severe swelling has still not
yet allowed for Ernestine to begin her surgical repairs….
Ernestine and Autumn have been able to share a room at UNM Hospital, but Autumn will soon
transfer to a specialized rehabilitation facility down the road to help facilitate her learning to
stand and walk again. We are praying that Ernestine will be ready to begin surgeries early this
week. The dollar signs of this tragedy have not shown their ugly heads yet, but of course they
will be something unexpected and unplanned for this family. We are asking that you take a
mere few seconds of your day to walk in the shoes of this family.
Nate is a retired United States Department of Agriculture(USDA)/United States Forest
Service(USFS) Fire Management Officer, and is one of the kindest and most caring men I know.
Nate’s service to the agency and to his brothers and sisters in the fire community over the last
34 fire seasons has been true and pure of heart. Ernestine started her career with the USFS on
the Gila National Forest in 2009, and has spent years with both the Coconino and the Apache-
Sitgreaves (A-S) National Forests. She is currently with the Bureau of Indian Affairs Western
Regional office. Autumn started with the USFS in 2021 on the A-S NF, and spent a couple
seasons with the Gila NF and recently ended this season on the Shasta/Trinity NF in CA.
Ernestine and Autumn both spent time in large fire support as personnel time recorders, and
Autumn is also red carded as a Fire Fighter Type 2 (FFT2), and planned to attend the University
of Arizona this fall to complete her Bachelor’s Degree in anthropology with a minor in
Geographic Information Systems(GIS).
I write this request for monetary support on behalf of Nate and his wife and daughter today,
knowing that this request will likely only amount to a small percentage of the funds required to
cover the current and future costs that yet another drunk driver has caused in our community.
Organizer and beneficiary
Ricky Cox
Organizer
Window Rock, AZ
Nathaniel Nozie
Beneficiary